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WINDMILL COUNTRY: Feral hogs still doing a lot of damage

Estimated populations from two million to six million wild hogs are wreaking havoc in at least 39 states and four Canadian provinces with half of them in Texas, where they do some $400 million in damages annually.

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WINDMILL COUNTRY: Feral hogs still doing a lot of damage

Estimated populations from two million to six million wild hogs are wreaking havoc in at least 39 states and four Canadian provinces with half of them in Texas, where they do some $400 million in damages annually.

For years, the feral hogs were discounted by the public as problems for farmers and ranchers. In recent years the destructive invasive species have come to town and proceeded to tear up golf courses, city parks and other recreational areas even terrorizing tourists in state and national parks.

However, feral pigs generally vary in color and size. Their hair is coarse with long bristles, and the color ranges from black, gray, brown, blonde, or red to spotted combinations. However, they are mostly black.

Despite some experts saying the feral hogs being born pregnant, sows begin breeding at 6 to 8 months of age and have two litters of four to eight piglets — a dozen is not unheard of — every 12 to 15 months during a life span of 4 to 8 years.

The average female weighs between 77 pounds and 330 pounds. The average wild boar weighs from 130-440 pounds. The males have four tusks that grow continually and can be extremely sharp. The upper tusks are as much as 3-5 inches long, and usually are worn or broken from use.

According to researchers, the wild hogs are surprisingly intelligent mammals and evade the best efforts to trap or kill them. They have no natural predators, and there are no legal poisons to use against them.

"For those landowners actively engaged in deer management, their tolerance of feral hogs should be very, very low," Higginbotham said.

Hogs erode the soil and muddy streams and other water sources, possibly causing fish kills. They disrupt native vegetation and make it easier for invasive plants to take hold.

The hogs will even eat livestock, especially lambs, goat kids and calves. They also eat wildlife such as deer and quail and feast on the eggs of endangered sea turtles.

Feral swine can also transmit diseases and parasites, such as pseudorabies, brucellosis, and tuberculosis, to livestock and people.

"Early spring can be the best time of the year for controlling expanding populations of wild pigs," said Josh Helcel, Extension associate with Texas A&M AgriLife. "Reducing populations of this exotic invasive species can directly translate into improved water quality, agricultural production, native species and habitat."

Helcel is a member of the newly formed "Wild Pig Team" to study management strategies of the feral swine. Other team members are Mark Tyson, associate with the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences unit at Texas A&M; Kimberly Aston, assistant with the Texas A&M Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences; and Jim Cathey, associate department head, professor and wildlife specialist.

Texas law allows hunters to kill wild hogs year-round without limits or capture them alive to take to slaughterhouses to be processed and sold to restaurants as exotic meat. Thousands more are shot from helicopters. The goal is not eradication, which few believe possible, but control.

Since 2007, subsequent studies done by AgriLife Extension and funded by the state's department of agriculture confirmed that control measures such as trapping and shooting "prevented millions of dollars in damage by reducing feral hog populations," Higginbotham said.

"Landowners remain the first line of defense since Texas is 95 percent privately owned land," he said.